THE General Medical Council has dropped any further action against a retired Woodley pathologist over a post mortem he previously carried out on a murder victim of serial killer Harold Shipman.

News of the decision on Dr David Lyle Bee, 74, of Werneth Road, comes in the same week that marks the first anniversary of Shipman's death.

He was found hanged in his prison cell.

Last autumn Dr Bee, who was cleared of serious misconduct by the GMC's Professional Conduct Committee (PCC), in Manchester, faced the possibility of the charge being further investigated by the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE).

At the time, the GMC said it was taking the unprecedented step of referring the case because it felt the committee had been "unduly lenient" to Dr Bee.

The CHRE then had the opportunity of referring the case to the High Court.

However, a spokeswoman for the GMC told the Stockport Express yesterday that no further action was planned.

She added: "We have referred the case to the CHRE who looked at it and decided not to refer it to the High Court.

"Therefore, no further action is planned against Dr Bee."

During last year's hearing by the GMC, Dr Bee admitted a series of blunders which allowed Shipman to kill a further 123 of his patients before his arrest in 1998.

Dr Bee faced six charges of professional misconduct relating to the post mortem of Renate Overton, 47, who fell victim to Shipman in 1995.

The September hearing was told that Mrs Overton had suffered an asthma attack at her home in April 1995.

Shipman gave her an overdose of morphine which failed to kill her immediately but left her in a coma.

She died 14 months later at Tameside General Hospital.

Dr Bee was near retirement when he carried out the post mortem examination and despite frequent notes in hospital records referring to a huge 20mg injection of morphine, he concluded Mrs Overton died of natural causes.

Criticising Dr Bee, the Shipman Inquiry chairman, Dame Janet Smith, said: "He provided no underlying cause of death and should have said he was unable to do so.

"Instead, he gave an unfounded opinion that the death was due to natural causes."